St. Charles high schools might add lacrosse

Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune

Girls lacrosse action between St. Charles #7 Emma Haley knocks the ball away from Glenbard West #14 Kate Dorsey during their game at the St. Charles East Side Sports Complex, at 3565 Legacy Blvd., in St. Charles, Ill., on Tuesday May 7, 2013.

Girls lacrosse action between St. Charles #7 Emma Haley knocks the ball away from Glenbard West #14 Kate Dorsey during their game at the St. Charles East Side Sports Complex, at 3565 Legacy Blvd., in St. Charles, Ill., on Tuesday May 7, 2013. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune)

Stephanie K. Baer, Tribune reporter

St. Charles high school students may have the opportunity to play lacrosse at school this coming spring if a proposal under consideration by District 303 is approved next month.

St Charles East Athletic Director Michael Sommerfeld presented the idea of adding the sport to the two high schools' athletics programs at a Community Relations Committee meeting Monday night, saying interest in the sport has grown rapidly in recent years.

There are currently more than 160 high school students who play the sport on eight teams run by the St. Charles Lacrosse Club, a nonprofit started by parents in 1995.

"If we were able to bring them into the school (district), the cost (to families) would be reduced and we'd have control over the programs," Sommerfeld said.

Adding the program at both St. Charles East and North high schools would cost the district about $75,000 a year, according to a staff memo. Students who play on teams run by the St. Charles club currently pay $650 in annual fees and $150 for a uniform, said Mitch Cohen, president of the club's board.

The fees pay for field rentals, coaches, referees and transportation.

"It's really been the goal from the start of 1995 to bring the sport to the schools in order to give all the kids an opportunity," Cohen said. "The biggest problem with lacrosse right now is it's an expensive sport."

Under the proposal, each participant would pay $400 in the program's first year to phase in the costs to the district. The cost to families would be decreased over four years to $110 per athlete, as is standard with other high school sports, Sommerfeld said.

"We can do it for less money, quite frankly, than what the parents have had to pay because of our resources," said Superintendent Don Schlomann.